


Let Me Protect You

by SterekCuties4ever



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alpha Peter, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Cutting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Food Issues, Good Peter, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter and Stiles are Mates, Physical Abuse, Self-Harm, Sheriff Stilinski Dies, Stiles Stilinski has an Eating Disorder, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-06 19:14:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1869252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SterekCuties4ever/pseuds/SterekCuties4ever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles is five years old, his father is killed in the line of duty. His mother doesn't take it very well and Stiles ends up having to take care of her. As time passes though she begins to drink and finds out that hurting Stiles makes her feel better. Eventually someone finds out though and hopes to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. This is My Life

**Author's Note:**

> I love Stiles so much but I love to see him in pain. It's so intense and I just love when someone swoops in to safe him!

For the first five year of his life, Stiles had the perfect life, the perfect family. He had a mother and father who loved him more then anything, he always had everything he needed and sometime more.

  
His mother stayed at home with him, took care of him, played with him. He would always help her cook dinner for his father and sometimes if he was lucky, they would even bake cookies for after dinner.

  
It was just after his fifth birthday that everything had taken a turn for the worst. His father was the Beacon Hills Sheriff and they were dispatched to the Beacon Hills bank. A group of men had taken it over and were threatening to kill hostages if their demands hadn't been met.

  
Being the Sheriff and the brave man that everyone knew that he was, he offered himself up as a trade for a few hostages and the men had agreed. Before all their demands could be given to them however, one gunshot rang throughout the small town, and in the blink of an eye, Stiles world had changed forever.

  
At first, things seemed like they would be alright, even with his father gone. In that first year, not much had changed. Yes his mother had smiled less, but she still took care of everything, still seemed like the perfect mother.

  
After the first year though, it seemed as though his mother was pretending more and more to be happy, and to be that perfect mother. His sixth birthday had come and gone and the house started to fall apart more and more with each passing day.

  
It was four months after his birthday that his mother had her first drink and nothing would ever be the same again.

  
At first it was only little things, she wouldn't clean the house anymore, or cook. So six year old Stiles did the cleaning and the cooking and he really didn't mind all that much. His mother had taken such good care of him, even after his father had passed away, that he thought it was his turn to take care of her.

  
His mother hung the moon, there wasn't anyone in the world that he loved more then her. By his seventh birthday, things had drastically changed. His mother stopped going to work and even though they received monthly checks from his father's pension, it wasn't enough to keep the house.

  
So they ended up moving across town, into a two bedroom apartment, that fell apart more and more with each passing day. Melissa, his best friend's mother had tried to help as much as she could, but she was a single mother herself and there was only so much she could do.

  
It was two weeks before his eighth birthday when his mother hit him for the first time. He was making dinner and dropped a plate, smashing it to pieces. He was just standing up from sweeping it, when he bumped into his mother.

  
He turned around to apologize when he was back handed across the face, sending him tumbling to the floor and the glass flying everywhere. "I'm so sick of your clumsy ass, can't you go ten minutes without breaking something else of mine?" she yelled out at him.

  
Tears were spilling over his face when he looked up at her and saw the hatred in her eyes, starring back at him. "I'm sor-sorry momma, it slipped out of my hands." he stuttered out to her.

  
She rolled her eyes at him and then looked around the almost clean kitchen, an evil grin starting to form. "This kitchen looks like shit, you call this fucking place clean?" she yelled at him, walking about the kitchen and throwing things all over the place.   
She went as far as dumping the garbage bag full of garbage all over the kitchen floor. She walked up to him and smacked him again and then shoving him hard to the ground. "I want this kitchen spotless, I want this fucking place to shine! If it isn't done to my liking, you'll do over and over again until it's done." she told him before retreating back into the living room.

  
Stiles had cleaned the kitchen several times that night, and been hit even more.   
  
  
  
After her first outburst, nothing was the same. She would always strike him when she thought he deserved it, which was multiple times a day. She was smart though, she knew not to hit him where it would be visible. Remarkably, she started to work again, getting a job at the Sheriff's station at the front desk.

  
To the outside world, she again seemed like the perfect mother. With the years that followed, she began to think up sick little games she could play to cause Stiles pain and with each one, they became worse and worse.

  
The one he hated most, was when she filled a bucket with a variety of different cleaners, shoved Stiles in the bathroom with it and made him scrub the whole thing down with his bare hands.

  
At first, after he'd been done cleaning, he spend the rest of the time locked in there in front of the air vent. To soon though his mother caught on and taped it up before putting him in there. He was barely conscious by the time he was let out, and his skin was always rubbed raw, as if the cleaning products were burning his skin completely off.

  
When he turned twelve, she started using food against him as well. He wasn't aloud to take anything to school for lunch and she didn't give him any money either. If he didn't finish his chores on time in the morning, he wasn't aloud to have breakfast. Which most days he did without breakfast or lunch.

  
The only dinner he was aloud to eat, was the scraps off his mother's plate every night. So if she finished everything that day, he went to bed without supper. Sometimes he would sneak out of bed at night and dig in the kitchen can, pulling out any left over meat his mother had thrown away from dinner and scarfing it down as fast as he could.

  
It wasn't long before his mother found out about it though and started taking all the leftovers to the old lady next door, making sure Stiles had nothing left to pick from.

  
It wasn't until he was sixteen that his life changed drastically, and that was when his best friend was bitten by a werewolf and the whole town was turned upside down. The pack that had passed through, brought back the famous Hales, whose house had burnt down many, many years ago with most of the family inside. The only ones that were left, was Peter, Derek and Cora.  
After taking care of the pack that had bitten Scott, they turned a few more teenagers who'd wanted the bite and formed their own little pack again, or family if you will. Even though Stiles didn't want the bite, at least not yet anyway, he was very smart and helped them out with a lot of their research.

  
Scott walked into Derek's loft one night, groaning as he fell to the couch next to Stiles. "Dude, you're lucky your mom is so cool, mine is driving me nuts." Stiles rolled his eyes, "Why is she driving you nuts?" he asked, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

  
"She won't let me go out with Allison tomorrow night. She said I'm not aloud to do anything until I get my stupid grades up." he bitched out and Stiles snorted. "Maybe if you actually studied or something you wouldn't have that problem." he told Scott, finishing another math problem.

  
Scott rolled his eyes, "Not all of us can be as smart as you dude. I don't know how you do it, it's all so fucking boring." Stiles shook his head as he continued to work. After a few minutes of silence, Scott opened his mouth again.

  
"Hey, you think if I told my mom you were helping me with school, that your mom would let me stay the weekend? I haven't been to your house in years man." Scott said to him, making him tense up.

  
He quickly recovered though, looking over at his best friend. "I told you, my mom doesn't like anyone at the apartment. I'll see if I can come stay at your house though, if you want." Stiles told him and Scott shook his head.

  
Stiles was hoping that Scott would say yes to him coming over. It had been so long since he received more then a day break from his mother and he needed one badly. "Nah man, then I would have to actually do work. Besides, I'm sure your mom wants to spend the weekend with you since it's her only time off." he said with a smile, getting to his feet and walking into the kitchen.

  
Stiles sighed, letting the disappointment and fear wash over him. He hated the weekends with his mother. She had a whole two days to torture him and play her sick little games.

  
He desperately wished someone would notice, would smell the things coming off of him or smell the burning stench of his skin. He knew that werewolves had strong senses but he guessed that no one cared enough about him to notice.

  
He was wrong though, Peter had started noticing little things here and there with Stiles. Like right now, he could smell all the feelings coming off of the boy, and he wondered why he was feeling like this. Peter had recently discovered that Stiles was his mate, but he didn't know how to handle it.

  
Stiles was on sixteen and he's just turned thirty two. His sister had told him once that age didn't really matter that much in their life but it still made him feel bad, considering Stiles wasn't a wolf.

  
Hell, he didn't even know if the kid liked girls or boys, let alone if he'd even go for someone as old as himself. He made the choice to follow the boy home that night and at first nothing really seemed that off.

  
Stiles set about doing some chores around the house and making dinner before his mother returned home.

  
He was about to leave when Stiles mother pulled in the drive way and decided to stick around, maybe stiles was just fighting with his mom or something. He quickly found out that it was way more then that though.

  
"I told you to have this fucking house spotless by the time I returned home. This place looks like a pig pen!" she screamed out at him. "Mom, I cleaned every room, I swear to I did. Please let me eat tonight, I haven't eaten in days and I'm so hungry." Stiles pleaded but all his mother did was laugh.

  
"I'm not fucking feeding an ungrateful little shit like you. In fact, you can sit at the table and watch me eat tonight. And maybe if you don't fuck anything up between the time I start and finish, I _might_ let you lick my plate." she told him, smile spread across her face.

  
Peter was appalled and anger flooded through him like waves from the ocean. How could someone treat their child so horribly. Stiles's mother was a respected member of this town, he didn't think in a million years she could be treating Stiles the way she was.

  
He knew that he had to get him away from this life, he just wasn't sure about how to go about it. First thing he was going to do though, was run into McDonalds and grab a bunch of food. He would wait until his mother fell asleep that night and the sneak in and confront the boy.

 

  
  
Thankfully his mother never stayed up to late and by ten she was fast asleep. She had taken some sleeping pills with a few swigs of Vodka and was dead to the world.

  
Peter scaled the side of the house, and gently tapped on Stiles's bedroom window. Stiles hurried over, throwing it up. "Peter, you can't be here, please you need to leave." he whispered out, fear pouring from him.

  
Peter shook his head, "Your mother is fast asleep and I'll be able to tell if she starts to wake up, I promise." he tells him, and Stiles nods as he backs away to let him through. Once inside, Peter throws the book bag he's carrying at Stiles and the boy looks at him funny.

  
"There's tons of food in there, sit down and eat it and don't argue with me." Peter tells him and the color drains from his face. "H-how did you find out, you can't tell anyone Peter, please you have to promise me." Stiles pleaded, tears starting to form and spilled down his cheeks.

  
Peter rushed to him, taking the boy in his arms and hugging him tightly. "I won't tell anyone as long as that's what you want. I noticed your scents were off tonight so I followed you home and I heard everything. I don't know if there is anything else going on here but I'm sure there is. You don't have to tell me though, not until you're ready. I just wanted you to know that you have someone here for you, someone who you can talk to about this and so that you knew that you weren't alone."

  
It takes Stiles a few minutes to calm down. It's then he remembers about the food and tears the book bag open and starts stuffing food in his mouth. "Stiles, you have to slow down. You haven't eaten in a few days, you'll make yourself sick." Peter tells him, and Stiles nods as he finishes the bite in his mouth and swallows, then takes a drink.

  
He eats much slower then, taking tiny bites and it isn't long before he starts getting pains in his stomach and pushes the food away. "You have to try and eat some more, that fact that you're hurting means there's already damage done and that's not good. I'm going to come back tomorrow night with a bunch of protein bars and drinks, will you be able to hide them well enough that she won't find them?" Peter asks and Stiles nods his head.

  
"She never really comes in here, she just locks my door before bed and unlocks it in the morning." he mumbles out, laying back in his bed, wrapping his arms around his pillow.

  
"She wasn't always like this you know, everything was great until my father passed away. He used to be the Sheriff and when I was five, he was killed during a bank robbery. Everything was fine though right after. She stopped cooking and cleaning but it wasn't that bad. I did it all and I even felt proud of myself for being able to take such good care of her. I promised my dad at his funeral, I told him that no matter what I would always take car of her." Stiles told him, more tears forming and spilling over.

  
"Stiles, it's not your job to put up with all of this. Sometimes you can't take care of someone all by yourself. Your mother needs help, she needs medicine or something but you don't deserve this, and your father is probably rolling around in his grave right now at the way she's treating you." Peter tells him, moving to sit next to Stiles.

  
Stiles nods his head, "I know that, but I don't know what to do. Everyone things she's so perfect and I don't think anyone would believe me. Yes, I do have marks on me from her hitting me and doing way worse things but I don't want anyone to know about them. I don't want anyone to know how weak I am, and how damaged I am." he cries out, hiding his face in his pillow.

  
Peter gently pushed his head to he's looking up at him. "You're not weak, not in the slightest. Not many people could put up with this as long as you have. Not many people would have made it alive, you lived Stiles and you fought and you're still fighting. That makes you so strong and come hell or high water I'm going to make you see that." Peter tells him and Stiles gives him a tiny smile.

  
Peter things that it's time for him to leave, he wants Stiles to get some sleep. He pulls his hand away from Stiles and goes to stand but Stiles is gripping his wrist. "Please Peter, please don't go. Will you stay with me tonight, please?" he whispers out, and Peter nods his head.

  
He walks around the bed, toes his shoes off and slides in under the covers. Stiles turns to face him and burrows himself under his arm and curls into the man's side. Peter gently rubs circles into his back, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and soon they are both fast asleep.


	2. Rescue

Stiles knew before he opened his eyes that Peter was gone. He could hear his mother moving about the kitchen, more then likely pouring her morning drink. He slowly opened eyes and looked about his room. Some how it felt different, he felt different.

  
Peter knowing the secret didn't chance anything, the man had promised he wouldn't tell anyone and some how he just knew that he was telling the truth. His cellphone vibrating brought him from his thoughts and he reached over for it.

  
_Peter to Stiles: Try and get out of the house today and meet me at the lake. I promise I'll be alone._

  
Stiles smiled to himself as he sent a text back and climbed out of bed to throw some clothes on and then head downstairs to face his mother for the day.

  
"Good morning mom, would you like something for breakfast?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen, going to the fridge and looking around inside. "No I don't want breakfast, you took your sweet ass getting up today so I guess I have to go to work hungry." she told him, pushing him from the fridge, kicking it closed and placing the lock.

  
"You be home when I get here tonight, I want dinner, I'm thinking steaks tonight." she said with a chuckle and left. He stood there as he looked around at all the locked cabinets, letting out a sigh.

  
He quickly donned his sneakers and once making sure his mother was gone, he jumped in his jeep and headed for the preserve, excited because he knew Peter would be there waiting for him.

 

  
  
  
Twenty minutes later he was putting the jeep in park as his eyes landed on Peter only ten feet away from him. He couldn't explain the sudden uptake in his heartbeat, but he was certain that he liked it.

  
He tried to calm himself as he climbed from the jeep, knowing that Peter could sense what he was feeling. He was about to speak but Peter held up a Denny's bag for him and smiled, "Come sit down, I didn't know what you liked so I grabbed you a few different things." he said, turning towards a large rock and taking a seat.

  
"At this point I don't really care what it is, I'm just grateful you brought me food." Stiles said with a smile, walking over and sitting across from the man.

  
Peter chuckled as he started pulling things out and handing some to Stiles and placing things in front of himself as well. "Thank you for all this, I m-mean I don't know why you're doing this all for me, but thank you." Stiles says to him, picking up a biscuit and taking a small bite, remembering what Peter had said last night about eating to fast.

  
Peter cocked his head a little as he looked at the boy, "I do it because I care, Stiles. For one you are pack and an Alpha always takes care of his pack. Secondly, any normal human being would do this for someone in your shoes." Peter told him with a smile.

  
Stiles starred at him, "You really see me as part of your pack?" he asked in almost disbelief. Peter frowned, "Of course I do Stiles, just because you're human doesn't mean you aren't pack. A lot of packs have humans in them, and you a very smart person, don't be so hard on yourself just because she is."

  
Stiles said nothing, just took another bite of his food and chewed slowly. After awhile they both finished and Stiles knew that Peter was going to start asking questions.

  
He jumped when Peter reached out his hands and took Stiles, "Please don't be frightened little one, if you don't want to tell me right away, you don't have too." he told the boy. Stiles gave him a little smile and took a deep breath. "Just ask me what you want to know know and I will tell you. You've done so much for me, it's the least that I could do." he answers and Peter smiles.  
"I want to know what all she does to you for starters and I want to look you over and make sure you're alright, if that's OK?" he asked and Stiles nodded his head. He pulled his hands back and started pulling his jacket off and then his shirt. When Peter laid eyes on his bruised and abused skin he gasped out, pain filling his eyes.

  
Stiles didn't look at him, he didn't want to see his face, didn't want to see the pity coming from his face. "What's wrong with your arms?" Peter asked out, reached out to gently touch them and Stiles hissed, jerking his arm away. "She makes me cle-clean the bathroom, but she doesn't let me use any clothes. She mixes all types of strong cleaners together in a large bucket and locks me in. Sometimes I pass out because it gets so hard to breath." he tells him and Peter reaches forward again to take him gently in his arms.

  
"Stiles, you need medical attention and before you argue with me about this, look closely at your arms, please?" Peter pleads with him and Stiles does. He's confused because he doesn't know what he's looking for. He knows that they are rubbed raw, but they are always like that.

  
He's about to speak but Peter cuts him off, "Stiles, you have no skin on your arms, there covered in chemical burns." he tells him, barely able to get the words out. Stiles gasps as he looks closer, "It can't be, I kn-know they hurt but it can't be that bad." he whispers out, tears coming to his eyes.

  
"Stiles I'm begging you, you have to go to the police. Either that or let me call CPS and make an anonymous tip. They won't give any notice, they will just show up. If she gets away, Stiles I'll take you away from here. We can go somewhere, run until you're of age. You have to do something, this can't go on. Please let me protect you." Peter begs.

  
Stiles looks up and sees tear streaming down the man's face. This is Peter Hale, the strongest person he knows and he's brought him to tears. He knows he must really be in bad shape, but he honestly couldn't even tell.

  
He's gone without so much and been tortured so much that he barely knew the difference. He knew that Peter was right and that he had to do something about this. He was right last night when he said his dad was more then likely rolling around in his grave.

  
He slowly started nodding his head and Peter hugged him, doing his best not to hurt him. "I'll call right now, but you have to go home. I want you to be there when they do come. Hopefully with what I tell them, they'll come before the day is through but I don't know."

  
Stiles nodded as he got to his feet, and started to his jeep. Half way there he stops though and turns around, running back to Peter and wrapping his arms around him for one last hug and then he takes off.

 

  
  
  
  
Two days go by and still no one comes to the house. It's Sunday night and he's gagging, trying his best not to pass out as he continues to scrub the already clean bathroom. Thankfully his hands and arms went numb and aren't hurting like they were at first.

  
He can tell that he won't last much longer and just as things start to fade out, he hears the doorbell ring and opens his eyes the best he can as he crawls over to the door and sticks his ear up to it.

  
"Mrs Stilinski, my name is Sarah and I'm from Child Protective Services. Myself and these two officers would like to come in and look around." he hears a woman say and he pulls in the biggest breath he can as he starts screaming for someone to help him and kicking at the bathroom door.

  
He hears footsteps running towards him and kicks harder. "Stiles, we're here, we're going to get you out of there." he hears a man call to him and he moves away from the door. He hears the lock being undone and the door swings open to reveal an older deputy, one he's know since he could remember and there are tears in the mans eyes as he takes Stiles in.

  
He grabs his radio, "Dispatch, this is county five. I need paramedics dispatched to the Stilinski residents." he calls. Another deputy hands him a blanket and he carefully scoops Stiles up in it as he holds him close to his chest. "It's alright Stiles, everything will be alright now." he kept saying over and over again as he started fading in and out.

  
Just as he starts hearing the sirens, his world goes dark.

 

  
  
  
When he finally comes around, he's know that he's in the hospital. He opens his eyes and looks around the room and is shocked to see the whole pack there, Peter right next to him, reading a book.

  
He smiles at that and tries to speak but starts coughing and his chest fills with pain. "Stiles, you need to calm down. Scott, go get your mother now!" Peter yells out as he wraps his arms around the boy, trying to get him to breath.

  
By the time Melissa comes in the room, he's almost relaxed but the pain is starting to become unbearable again.

  
"Wh-why does my che-chest hurt so much?" he rasps out and Scott chokes back a sob and Melissa sits next to him on the bed. "Honey, you stopped breathing and your heart stopped on the way here. They had to shock you to get you back, your very sick right now, but with time you're going to be alright." she tells him and he nods his head.

  
She takes a deep breath and pulls out his chart, "Your arms and hands will have to stay wrapped for a week or so and then after that, you'll have to have cream put on them three times a day. The doctor says being that you're so young, you shouldn't really have any scars once they heal. You're very malnourished, you're only aloud to have liquids right now and after that you'll be put on a special diet to help ease you back into eating. You have a few broken rips and the slashed on your back are deeply infected and that's what we are mostly worried about right now. They seem to be healing fine, but you're going to be in here for quite sometime sweetheart."

  
He looks around the room and sees the tears falling down their faces, hell even Jackson is crying so he must be in bad shape. Everyone begins to chuckle and he realizes that he must of said the last part out loud.

  
"I'll be back in a little while to check on you. I'll let the doctor know you're awake and see about getting you some liquids going." Melissa told him before leaving the room.

  
"Is sh-she in jail, is she put away?" he asks right away and everyone starts nodding. "The judge didn't give her the choice of bail so she's sitting until her trial, which doesn't have a date yet." Peter tells him.

  
He nods his head as he looks around at everyone again. "I hope that none of you are upset with me for not telling you. I was just so ashamed that I was letting her do this to me and I just didn't know what to do." Stiles tells them, letting his head fall.

  
"Dude, no one here is mad at you, we're mad at her. We all understand, even though we don't know how you feel of know what you went through, but we at least understand why you didn't say anything." Scott tells him, coming over and giving him a gentle hug.

  
After that, everyone, including Jackson take turns hugging him before filing out and heading home for the night, everyone except Peter of course.

  
"Peter, where am I going to go now?" Stiles asks him after a few minutes. Peter smiles, "You're going to come live with me, Derek and Cora of course. I've already signed papers while you were out giving me guardianship over you."

  
Stiles give him a funny look, "How did you do all that in a few hours?" he asks and Peter frowns at him. "Little one, you've been unconscious for almost a week now. They were doing their best to keep you sedated so you didn't have to feel as much pain, giving you some time to heal."

  
Stiles doesn't say anything, just lets his tears fall. Peter takes his hands, "None of this will be easy, but you have me and the rest of this pack. You're going to get through this, you're going to get better and go on with your life. It'll be tough at times, and you're going to need therapy but you'll never be alone again, I promise."

  
Stiles smiles at him, leaning in to his embrace and lets Peter hold him. He doesn't know for how long and frankly he doesn't care. It feels nice to have someone comfort him for once, to have contact from someone who wasn't causing him pain.  
  



	3. Hospitals Suck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has to spend some time in the hospital. Things aren't easy, but at least he has Peter and the pack now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my GOD! So I don't know if all of you know. But I posted on Tumblr a while ago letting everyone know that my laptop had died. WELL, I finally got another one. Life is still pretty busy, but I will be starting to update again. FINALLY! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, please let me know what you think! <3

Over the next few days, Stiles does nothing but sleep. Sometimes he wakes to the whispering voices of his friends but never stays awake long enough to hear anything their talking about. When he finally does wake though, he's surprised to see only Derek sitting next to his bed and no one else. "Hey Sourwolf." he rasps out, coughing as his throat tickles and scratches from not talking for so long. Derek rolls his eyes at the nickname but Stiles can see the hint of a smile in there somewhere.'

"Well nice to see you too, Stiles. How are you feeling?" Derek asks as he reaches out and pushes the call button. Stiles grunts. "I still feel like I've been run over by a truck and then some. It also feels like someone took sand paper to my throat." he answers, trying to move into a sitting position and failing miserably. "Would you knock it off before you hurt yourself more please." Derek says, getting to his feet and helping Stiles move around until he's satisfied.

Stiles is about to ask where Peter is when a smiling Melissa comes through the door with ice water in her hand and Stiles makes grabby hands for it. "Don't drink it to fast, you don't want to make yourself sick." she says, handing it to him. He takes small sips but it still doesn't last more then a minute. "I'll email the Doctor that you're awake and have him come down and check you over. You're back is starting to look better and so are your arms. How does your stomach feel?" she asks.voice heavy with concern.

"It feels fine, I'm honestly really damn hungry and I want food." he says, making both of the them smile. "I will see if you can maybe try some jello, I can tell you that you won't be getting more then that still for a few days. You're reacting well to the food tube and the liquids we are giving you. If you want to try later, maybe you can try drinking one of them instead. If the taste doesn't bother you to much, we can take the feeding tube out." she says with a smile. Stiles hugs her before she goes, a few tears slipping from his eyes at the embrace.

When she's gone, he turns to Derek. Where's Peter?" he asks and Derek actually smiles this time. "He is with the pack right now, who are currently getting all your things together from your house and setting up your room at ours. Lydia is decorating, so be prepared for that." Stiles laughs out at that, "At least I know I'll have a pretty stylish room and more then likely a new wardrobe to go with it." Derek chuckles, "Yeah, she did say something about her and Ally heading over to the mall or something. Anyway, do you want me to call Peter?" he asks, already digging out his phone.

Stiles nods but holds out his hand. "Let me call him though, I know he'll be surprised to hear its me." Derek smiles and hands over the phone after pushing the call button. It only rings twice before Peter's worried voice comes through. "What is it, what happened?" he says in a rush and it makes Stiles smile so big his face hurts. "Hey ZombieWolf, I'm fine, cool your tits." Stiles says and Derek barks out a laugh. "Stiles! You're awake, it's so good to hear your voice!" Peter tells him, and Stiles blushes. "It's good to hear yours too. Derek said you guys were setting up my new room, when are you coming back here?" Stiles asks and hears a tiny chuckle from the other side of the line.

"There's not much left to do here, let me get changed and then I'll be over." he tells Stiles, making him smile again. They say their goodbyes before Stiles hands the phone back to Derek. "He says he'll be over soon. You can head home awhile if you want. I know it can't be to much fun sitting here with me all day long." he says, picking at his blanket. "Shut up Stiles. I don't mind, none of us do. I'll stay until Peter gets here and then I'll go." Derek tells him, leaning over and giving Stiles a tiny hug before taking his seat again and picking up his book.

They sit in silence while they wait for Peter to arrive. When he finally walks through the door, Stiles is in awe. Peter is carrying a vase of flowers, teddy bear and what looks like an ice blue slushy that he knows damn well he's more then likely not aloud to have. "You didn't have to get me all that stuff!" he all but yells out, ignoring Peter rolling his eyes at him.

"Hey, you're in the hospital, I and everyone else are aloud to spoil you as we see fit. Now give me a hug and drink this down before Melissa comes in here and murders us both." he says, leaning down and wrapping his arms around the small fragile boy. Stiles squeezes him tight and then takes his drink and starts slurping it down. "Don't drink it that fast or you'll get brain freeze" a man says from the door way and they all jump.

They all look over to see a smiling man that Stiles knows has to be his Doctor and his face pales. The man only chuckles though, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. That's not going to hurt you. Liquids are fine, we just don't know how you'll handle hard foods." the man tells him, walking over to the bed. "Could I maybe try something, like toast or something to find out? I really am hungry, Sir." Stiles says.

"Hmm, I'm to sure if toast is a good thing to start with. I'd have to give you dry toast and I don't think that would feel good on your throat. How about we try some chicken noodle soup and crackers, along with a ginger ale. If it all goes down well and stays down, I think I'll be comfortable enough to send you home in the morning."

Stiles eyes light up, "Are you serious?" he asks and the man smiles, nodding his head. "Even still, if I send you home I want you in bed unless you are going to the bathroom. I want you to rest as much as possible. You still have a long road to recovery."

Stiles nods his head, "I promise if you let me out of this place I will never leave my bed. Trust me, these guys wouldn't let that happen anyway." he says, jerking his thumb towards them, ignoring the burning that races up his arm. "You got that right, I might even carry you to and from the bathroom, and you know I'd do it." Peter said and everyone laughed.

The doctor stayed long enough to unwrap his arms and apply cream, which had Stiles in tears by the end. He's sure it would have been a ton worse if there weren't certain werewolves in the room taking his pain. After that, he checked all his vitals and looked at his throat before retreating from the room with promises of food in about half an hour.

True to his word, half an hour later a young woman came into his room with a tray full of steaming hot chicken noodle soup, crackers and two cans of ginger-ale. "Try not to drink to much while you're eating. You don't want to over fill your stomach with it before you're able to get any food." she tells him before leaving.

Stiles takes the lid from his soup, inhaling the mouth watering scent rising to meet him. He smiles then, dips his spoon in and eats a spoonful. "That was the best thing I've tasted in my life and I've had some pretty good stuff." he says before taking another bite and then another. He's quiet until the soup, the crackers and a whole can of soda are gone. He laughs when he looks up and sees Derek and Peter staring at him, looking like their waiting for the vomit to spew from his mouth at any second.

"I feel fine, down boys." he says with a smirk. Derek rolls his eyes but Peter is smiling from ear to ear. "Let's give it about twenty minutes and then I'll go find your Doctor." Peter tells him and he nods. "So how crazy did Lydia go with my room and what I'm sure is way to many clothes?" Stiles asks and Peter smiles, Your room really looks awesome. She did a forest theme, I'm kind of jealous actually. You're right on the clothes though, she barely fit everything into your closet. Ally made sure you got some plaid and t shirts though, so don't worry to much."

Stiles shrugged, "At least she didn't completely kill my style then." he mutters as the Doctor peeks his head in the door. "Everything staying down alright?" he asks and Stiles smiles, nodding his head. "Good, I'll get everything set up for you to go home in the morning then. I'll be sending you home with a meal plan that I want you to follow completely until I see you again in two weeks. If everything seems fine then, you'll be able to start eating normally again." he says before disappearing again.

The next hour is filled with Peter telling him what all he's missed since he's been in the hospital. Which surprisingly isn't that much. Thankfully the supernatural Gods were having some mercy. Once darkness fell, he started getting tired again. Derek had finally said his good byes and Peter was currently sitting next to him, reading aloud from a book that he wasn't even paying attention to. His thoughts were on his mother and how his life was going to change now that she was no longer in it. He knew he would love living with Peter, but he knew things were going to change. People knew, the whole town knew.

They were going to look at him differently now, treat him differently and he didn't even want to think about how the kids at school were going to react. Depending on how his first few days back went, he might have to talk to Peter about letting him finish school online.

For right now though he needed to worry about getting himself better. He knew he wouldn't be going back to school for at least another month yet. He welcomed the break but didn't look forward to the make up work he was going to have to complete when he finally went back.

It was a little after eleven when his brain finally decided that it was time for sleep and his eyes slowly drifted closed.


	4. Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles leaves the hospital and recover starts happening, but it's not that easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything. Life's been hectic. I hope you enjoy and thanks for sticking around for so long! <3 <3

The morning when he wakes, the whole pack is there and he can't help the excitement he feels inside, knowing that he was finally free from this god awful hospital. Not that he didn't love Melissa, because well of course he did, but he needed out of this place. He wanted to be somewhere familiar and not be hooked up to machines and he wanted his pillow damn it.

By eleven AM he was sliding into Peter's car and they were on their way to the pack house, to home. Stiles couldn't believe that so much had changed over the span of a few weeks. Granted he didn't remember much of it and for that he's thankful. If he was as bad as everyone told him when they brought him in, it was good that he slept through the first week. His arms were by far the worst of it all, he guessed he sort of had skin now, but it was thin and it still hurt when he so much as breathed on it. He could deal with it though, if only Peter didn't have to put cream on his arms every four hours. 

He was grateful for the pack in these times, someone was always taking his pain away and he felt bad for whoever it was doing it. "You ready to go inside, little one?" Peter asked, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked around and realized they were already here and he shook his head. "Yeah sorry, must of spaced out or something." he says, pulling himself from the car and walking towards the house.

When he walked in, it felt like something was pulling at his heart strings. Of course he'd been here so many times before, but this time was different. This time he was coming home. He didn't know why Derek insisted on staying in his stupid loft when they could all just live here in this huge house, together as one big happy family. 

"Are you hungry? I could make something light for you. Lydia went shopping last night and we have everything here that Melissa put on the list for you." Peter told him and Stiles smiled at him. "Heck yeah, I'm starving! How much am I aloud to eat?" he asks, looking at Peter hopefully.

Peter chuckled, "Well, sadly you aren't aloud to have much. The most filling thing I can make you is some dry toast and a few apple slices." Stiles shrugged, "It's better than nothing." he muttered, turning towards the living room. Lydia stops him though, "Come upstairs and see your room. I think you're going to love it!" she tells him, gently tugging him towards the stairs. 

"Fine, fine, I'm coming. I'm excited for my room, but I'm scared to see my closet." he said, earning him a glare from the strawberry blonde. He hears chuckled from behind him as he climbs the stairs slowly. His muscles were still sore and climbing stairs or just walking period was very draining.

When he finally reached the top, he smiled before entering his room and his breath was knocked out of him. His room was painted a forest green with forest decals. There were dressers, an arm chair and the biggest comfiest bed he thinks he's ever laid eyes on. "Lydia, this looks so amazing. You didn't have to do this all for me, none of you did." he said, turning to them all.

Scott steps forward, hands behind his back. It wouldn't be complete without this." he says, bringing a pillow out from behind his back and Stiles tears up. Scott was the best person in the whole world right now. He reached out and carefully took the pillow in his hands before bringing it towards him and squeezing it to his chest, inhaling the scent that he wished he could still smell.

When his father had passed away, his mother rid the house of everything of his she could get her hands on. Stiles managed to sneak into their bedroom and swipe his fathers pillow, that at the time had still smelled like his aftershave, though it faded with the many years that passed. Thankfully his mother had never noticed he took it and he'd kept it well hidden, making sure he never, ever lost it. To many people he's sure it would seem weird, but not to him and not to the pack. They understood these sort of things, scents had a meaning to them and he's sure they could more than likely still smell the aftershave, even though no one ever mentioned it. 

After a moment, Stiles went to him and hugged him. "Thank you so much, this is the only thing I had that i really cared about, thank you for getting it for me." he mumbled into the boys neck.

After a few more minutes, they left him to getting settled and just as he laid back to get comfy, Peter walked into his room with a tray, smile on his face. Stiles smiled as he took the tray and sat it on his lap. "Thanks Peter, this looks awesome." Peter returned his smile, "Of course, you better get used to the whole being waited on and taken care of because it's going to be happening for a few weeks. I want you to heal as best as possible."

Stiles snorted as he took a bite of toast, "Yes oh alpha of mine." he said, and Peter rolled his eyes getting to his feet. 

 

Over the next few weeks Stiles heals, on the outside at least. Stiles knew he would have issues dealing and coping with all that happened, but he didn't think the nightmares would be this bad. The first few nights had been fine, he slept soundly and woke refreshed, but on his fifth day here, he'd awoken at three AM, filling the house with his screams of terror. Everyone had been in his room in an instant, Peter catching him before he hit the ground. "Don't let her get me, please I don't want to go back!" he'd hollered over and over again. It took Peter almost ten minutes to calm him enough to lay back down again.

Almost every night since then he would awake the same way and it terrified him. Not only that, but he felt bad for keeping everyone else awake every night. At one point he told Peter he should just send him away, that they all would be better without him. Peter had flashed his eyes at him, telling him he was fine and that the pack would fall apart without him. 

Stiles knew he was being rash about it, and knew they would never, ever be without him or let him leave them like that. Not like he really wanted to anyway. A month after the nightmares, his panic attacks started and his depression set in. He didn't understand why he was like this, he didn't want to be. He wanted to be happy like he should be now that he was away from his mother, but happiness wouldn't come.

Peter explained to him that it was his brains way of saying it was tired and finally hit it's breaking point. He'd stayed strong for so long and fought so hard that his brain, knowing it was finally safe, crumpled. He started going to see a counselor and after that and the medication, things started to finally look up for him. He wasn't ready to go back to school though and after talking to the pack, decided to start taking his classes online at home, not wanting or ready to deal with everyone at school or in town.

 

 

Peter didn't know what to do with himself. He was trying to be a good alpha, a good mate, but it was hard doing so when his mate didn't even know what he was. He tried to hide it and he thought he was doing a good job of it until one night after Stiles had finally fallen back to sleep from another nightmare. He was in the kitchen getting something to drink and when he turned around Lydia was standing there with her arms crossed.

"How much longer are you going to torture yourself before you finally tell him?" she asked, cocking her eyebrow at him. Peter let out a sigh, "It's not that easy or I would have by now and how do you even know about all this in the first place?" he asked, handing her a drink and taking a seat. She said down across from him, "Jackson and I couldn't figure out why our feelings were so strong for one another and so I did some research. I've know about it for a long time now and I've known how you felt about him for months now."

Peter sighed, "It's different for you guys, you're the same age as one another. Stiles is still a child and I'm thirty-five years old. That's very illegal, and I don't know if he's in the right spot to hear any of this right now." he told her and she rolled her eyes at him. 

"You're a wolf, in our world it's alright, you know that, I know you know that. Not to mention if you guys are mates, that makes you each others anchors, which means you could be in there every night, making his dreams stay away." she told him and he looked at her, worry in his eyes. "I know that, but I'm afraid of scaring him off and hurting him more than he already is right now."

She took his hands in hers, "I know you are, but it might be a chance you have to take. He seems like he's getting better, but we don't know it it will last and he could get worse or hurt more anyway. I'm not saying you need to say anything tomorrow, I just want you to think about it, before it's to late." He smiled at her, nodding his head and giving her a hug.

They said their good nights and headed their own ways. He peeked in on Stiles, watching him sleep, peace etched across his young face. Maybe Lydia was right, maybe it was best that he tell Stiles sooner rather than later. He couldn't bare to watch his mate suffer like this much longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter! The healing process has begun, but there will be bumps along the way. Please leave me feed back! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Comment and all that fun stuff! I hope you like this first chapter!


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